The record Gods must love you. You have to be the only guy in the world to EVER have their records stolen and then recovered.
ask David Rodigan. During a gig a few years back in my town he suddenly stopped the music and said something along the lines: "listen, a box full of dubplates just got stolen from behind my back. They have to be returned immediately or I will stop performing!" Surely he was superpissed. It turned out that one of the "friends" of the local soundsystem who booked Rodigan couldn't resist (hell, where did he want to play those anyway - every song mentioned Rodigan) and took them while he was djing to the crowd. They stopped him at the door luckily, but only by chance. A few seconds later and he would've been gone. I think a little beatdown was also involved.
Bonus: local dj got his records stolen out of his cellar a few years back by some crackhead. went to the thriftstore 2 houses further and got them all back.
Congrats Marco, that is a true hollywood happy end.
Ha ha this drummer I've been playing with called last night when he got my text that my 45s were recovered. When I told him the story he was all like "THEY HAVE HIS ADDRESS? WHERE DO WE FIND HIM? WE'LL BEAT HIS ASS! IT'S THE DJ CODE! YOU DON'T STEAL SOMEONE'S RECORDS!!! I DON'T CARE, I'LL BREAK HIS f*cking JAW!!! YOU DON'T DO THAT SHIT!!"
He went on like that for about 5 minutes then somehow talked himself down to "Well maybe it's good record karma. He's bringing bad vibrations and we don't need to follow that. Maybe this is a message for me to appreciate my records and DJ more."
Ha ha this drummer I've been playing with called last night when he got my text that my 45s were recovered. When I told him the story he was all like "THEY HAVE HIS ADDRESS? WHERE DO WE FIND HIM? WE'LL BEAT HIS ASS! IT'S THE DJ CODE! YOU DON'T STEAL SOMEONE'S RECORDS!!! I DON'T CARE, I'LL BREAK HIS f*cking JAW!!! YOU DON'T DO THAT SHIT!!"
He went on like that for about 5 minutes then somehow talked himself down to "Well maybe it's good record karma. He's bringing bad vibrations and we don't need to follow that. Maybe this is a message for me to appreciate my records and DJ more."
Great hear you found them!
Like Birdman said, same shit happened to me about three years ago.
He dropped off my records to sell and bounced. They called me and I came to pick them up about he same time he came back to see how much he was getting. I can't describe how bad I wanted to hurt him. Seething with it. But I just took my records and left. 1) I was relieved to have it solved and holding my records 2) I felt like I owed the store for looking out like that and din't want to flip the F*ck out up in there.
In retrospect, I wish I would have got back at him somehow. If I would have had a lead on his whereabouts--that would be nice and maybe I could have slit his tires or something like that. I regret that he got off so easy.
I remember being at a rave once when someone got two turntables stolen. It was a decrepit warehouse within a few blocks of White Sox park on the South Side of Chicago, and they somehow got them down a freight elevator. Some candy kid got on the mic and started throwing diva hands on some, "This is so shady and totally not what the scene is about!" The event broke up shortly thereafter. It was a strange party -- some back room was filled to the stop with stuffed Energizer Bunnies.
I remember being at a rave once when someone got two turntables stolen. It was a decrepit warehouse within a few blocks of White Sox park on the South Side of Chicago, and they somehow got them down a freight elevator. Some candy kid got on the mic and started throwing diva hands on some, "This is so shady and totally not what the scene is about!" The event broke up shortly thereafter. It was a strange party -- some back room was filled to the stop with stuffed Energizer Bunnies.
About 3 years ago, my friend and his wife packed everything they owned into a uhaul and moved back from LA to SF. They stopped to get some coffee and someone stole the truck. Everything they owned was gone. He had about 3,000-4,000 LPs and a couple hundred 45s. He had some really good stuff too.
I think about 4 or 5 days went by and there was no news. We went to all the flea markets and let the record stores know. The police found the u-haul, but it was missing a lot of stuff. All the records were gone, their furniture was broken, electronics gone, books gone, etc. Then he got a call from Amoeba in Berkeley and a woman was trying to sell 15 boxes of records. She had more in her car and she had sold a few boxes a couple days earlier. They called him up and he made it over there and the police came at the same time. She was arrested and he got the rest of the records from the car. He ended up missing about 2 boxes of lps and a bunch of 45s, but got the majority of the records back. The police asked him to prove they were his and he had no real way of doing so, but luckily there was a record mailer stashed in one of the boxes with his name and address on it.
That was how I started posting here on a regular basis. I was posting to have people keep an eye out. It was pretty depressing when it happened and very exciting when they were found.
Wow, crazy. Now I'm thinking about putting slips of paper w/ my info in each record. Damn.
About 3 years ago, my friend and his wife packed everything they owned into a uhaul and moved back from LA to SF. They stopped to get some coffee and someone stole the truck.
That was my biggest fear when my girl and I moved. We spent the night in Vegas. The uhaul had all my records, everything else I owned, and our new Honda was on a trailer. It was parked in a big empty lot for oversize vehicles and would have been too easy to steal. Not only would you get the contents of the truck, but the car on top of that. Needless to say I didn't sleep well that night, and as soon as the sun came up, I went out to make sure it was still there.
I moved from DC to LA in 1999 and then back again a year later. Both times I drove my own U-Haul (with no copilot) with my whole collection in it (at least 7,000 LP's). Tried to get first floor rooms where I could back the truck up to window and then I'd sleep in the bed closest to the truck. Nothing happened luckily.
I moved from DC to LA in 1999 and then back again a year later. Both times I drove my own U-Haul (with no copilot) with my whole collection in it (at least 7,000 LP's). Tried to get first floor rooms where I could back the truck up to window and then I'd sleep in the bed closest to the truck. Nothing happened luckily.
yeah I did the same thing moving from Chicago to LA in 2001...and I had my crazy ass cat with me, that trip sucked ass.
when having a moving truck full of everything you own, for a little piece of mind...find the fuse panel and whenever you park for the night, or park whenever, just take out the ignition fuse, then the truck wont be able to start. It wont help someone breaking into to it, but you can at least know it cant be stolen, unless the theives carry around fuses with them. Note however, keep up with that fuse, because if you lose it, youre screwed.
You have to be the only guy in the world to EVER have their records stolen and then recovered.
The worst is seeing them posted on e-bay.... I got the heavy stuff back then confronted the thief, which was a bit of a letdown.... lot's of tears shed by her, making me feel like she was the one being wronged.
Thing is with wax is it's a tight circle now... people notice when records go on the market and if the words on the street, you may luck out and nab them back.
I started marking my records... I slowed the process down to a trickle this winter, this thread'll make me step it up.
Just picked up my box today and though the 45s are completely out of order, they all seem to be there. I'm at work now and it's on my desk under my watchful eye! Whew.
One thing I'm confused about - Amoeba knows the seller, right? And they know the records are stolen, no? So why wouldn't they help you bust this guy?
I dunno. My buddy didn't even mention that option at all in our 2-3 conversations, so I'm assuming he/they have their reasons. And to be honest, beating the guy down or sending him to jail wouldn't give me very much satisfaction. I'm just happy to have my records back!
Or at least stop buying from him. It sounds like they know the deal with this dude. NAGL
If Amoeba knows the deal on this dude, at least they have a certain level of control over the situation as long as he keeps coming in. It puts them in the position to be able to return records to people like Mark. Sounds strange, but give it some thought. It makes sense. Sending him to jail does nothing. He'll go away for a little while and then get out and begin the cycle again, but possibly in a different neighborhood near a different record store. He's not going to quit just because Amoeba calls him out. I'm going to guess that Amoeba has danced around this maypole before.
Or at least stop buying from him. It sounds like they know the deal with this dude. NAGL
If Amoeba knows the deal on this dude, at least they have a certain level of control over the situation as long as he keeps coming in. It puts them in the position to be able to return records to people like Mark. Sounds strange, but give it some thought. It makes sense. Sending him to jail does nothing. He'll go away for a little while and then get out and begin the cycle again, but possibly in a different neighborhood near a different record store. He's not going to quit just because Amoeba calls him out. I'm going to guess that Amoeba has danced around this maypole before.
That's what I was thinking. If they checked his ID or called the cops, they might have lost track of him altogether. Amoeba's method of least resistance allowed me to get me my records back for what they paid him: $35.
That's what I was thinking. If they checked his ID or called the cops, they might have lost track of him altogether. Amoeba's method of least resistance allowed me to get me my records back for what they paid him: $35.
THIRTY FIVE DOLLARS!
I can understand Amoeba's stance, but what if dude declined the $35 offer and decided to go to another store to sell them?
Your box is worth at least $40! If the guy was still there I hope Amoeba at least took the guy's picture and posted it in the buy area with a big headline saying "DO NOT BUY RECORDS FROM THIS MAN."
They made you pay to get your records back. I mean no doubt it is worth it, but they sound like a bunch of asshats.
I kinda agree. I know Mark is beyond pleased and appreciative to get back those records (I had the pleasure to peruse said box and listen to many many of those records when he made his trip west and stopped in Memphis, and losing those records is grown-man-crying-like-a-little-girl worthy), Im guessing Mark would have paid 10X that to get them back...at the same time however, we get sometimes get calls from other shops saying "look out for a dude selling this and that, he just lifted it from my shop" And within an hour the dude they warned us about will come in and try to sell the stuff. I simply take it, take my time "grading" it, make a phone call and alert the other shop, and just hold on to it. I dont give it back. They get heated and say shit like "im gonna call the cops" I hand them the phone. Funny they never call the cops. Then other shop dude comes, I give him the stuff back and let them deal with scumbag. Simple. They could have easily just not given the box back. What was the dude going to do? Nothing.
But, bottom line is that Mark got his records back. Happy day.
Im guessing that Mark threw some extra $$ their way beyond the $35, because thats the kind of dude Mark is.
But it was kind of shitty making him pay for them, as they really didnt have to pay scumbag thief anything.
They made you pay to get your records back. I mean no doubt it is worth it, but they sound like a bunch of asshats.
They invested $35 to help me out, and charged me at cost with no profit to themselves. I'm sure there's various arguments that could be made for them to have taken a different approach, but at the end of the day I got my records back in less than 24 hours for a pittance and with no hassles. I'm cool with that.
Especially since the LAPD said they'd have detectives call me in SEVEN TO TEN DAYS after I reported the theft. Why bother.
But it was kind of shitty making him pay for them, as they really didnt have to pay scumbag thief anything.
Yeah, this was my point.
The $35 is at no gain to Amoeba though. Any DJ who wouldn't pay $35 to get their box of stolen records back, well....they have really shitty records and probably shouldn't be taking DJ gigs to begin with. It's not like Amoeba held the records over Mark's head and were like "Whoa dude, you can't have these back just yet."
The scenario that Eric lays out works, too but is clearly more confrontational, or at least has more potential to end badly. Obviously, none of us WANT dudes to steal records, but Amoeba's course of action gives them control over the situation. They know who the thieves are, and they're obviously willing to do right by the rightful owners when they can be found. Any more said about Amoeba's actions would be presumptuous since I have never worked there.
But tip back over to page one of this thread. Better yet, I'll save you the trouble.
These are the most important records in my collection and I will pay a reward for their return. I can provide a partial list for identification purposes. Thanks.
What's the over/under that Mark's reward offering would have been more than $35??
Don't hate on Amoeba for this. They performed an admirable service for Mark, and it may be you in his non-leather shoes one day.
I remember when Cut Chemist had his 45s stolen while on the first Brainfreeze tour and ended up getting every single one back.
That shit happened here in PDX. Brutal. Apparently they figured out it had to be an employee so they "leaned" on this young kid who they suspected of being the thief and the records magically appeared behind some door at the club the next day.
Comments
ask David Rodigan. During a gig a few years back in my town he suddenly stopped the music and said something along the lines: "listen, a box full of dubplates just got stolen from behind my back. They have to be returned immediately or I will stop performing!" Surely he was superpissed. It turned out that one of the "friends" of the local soundsystem who booked Rodigan couldn't resist (hell, where did he want to play those anyway - every song mentioned Rodigan) and took them while he was djing to the crowd. They stopped him at the door luckily, but only by chance. A few seconds later and he would've been gone. I think a little beatdown was also involved.
Bonus: local dj got his records stolen out of his cellar a few years back by some crackhead. went to the thriftstore 2 houses further and got them all back.
Congrats Marco, that is a true hollywood happy end.
Ha ha this drummer I've been playing with called last night when he got my text that my 45s were recovered. When I told him the story he was all like "THEY HAVE HIS ADDRESS? WHERE DO WE FIND HIM? WE'LL BEAT HIS ASS! IT'S THE DJ CODE! YOU DON'T STEAL SOMEONE'S RECORDS!!! I DON'T CARE, I'LL BREAK HIS f*cking JAW!!! YOU DON'T DO THAT SHIT!!"
He went on like that for about 5 minutes then somehow talked himself down to "Well maybe it's good record karma. He's bringing bad vibrations and we don't need to follow that. Maybe this is a message for me to appreciate my records and DJ more."
Happens all the time.
I remember when Cut Chemist had his 45s stolen while on the first Brainfreeze tour and ended up getting every single one back.
Great hear you found them!
Like Birdman said, same shit happened to me about three years ago.
He dropped off my records to sell and bounced. They called me and I came to pick them up about he same time he came back to see how much he was getting. I can't describe how bad I wanted to hurt him. Seething with it. But I just took my records and left. 1) I was relieved to have it solved and holding my records 2) I felt like I owed the store for looking out like that and din't want to flip the F*ck out up in there.
In retrospect, I wish I would have got back at him somehow. If I would have had a lead on his whereabouts--that would be nice and maybe I could have slit his tires or something like that. I regret that he got off so easy.
Glad this story turned out well!
i'm sorry, this is the best anecdote ever
I think about 4 or 5 days went by and there was no news. We went to all the flea markets and let the record stores know. The police found the u-haul, but it was missing a lot of stuff. All the records were gone, their furniture was broken, electronics gone, books gone, etc. Then he got a call from Amoeba in Berkeley and a woman was trying to sell 15 boxes of records. She had more in her car and she had sold a few boxes a couple days earlier. They called him up and he made it over there and the police came at the same time. She was arrested and he got the rest of the records from the car. He ended up missing about 2 boxes of lps and a bunch of 45s, but got the majority of the records back. The police asked him to prove they were his and he had no real way of doing so, but luckily there was a record mailer stashed in one of the boxes with his name and address on it.
That was how I started posting here on a regular basis. I was posting to have people keep an eye out. It was pretty depressing when it happened and very exciting when they were found.
Glad to hear you got your 45s back.
That was my biggest fear when my girl and I moved. We spent the night in Vegas. The uhaul had all my records, everything else I owned, and our new Honda was on a trailer. It was parked in a big empty lot for oversize vehicles and would have been too easy to steal. Not only would you get the contents of the truck, but the car on top of that. Needless to say I didn't sleep well that night, and as soon as the sun came up, I went out to make sure it was still there.
yeah I did the same thing moving from Chicago to LA in 2001...and I had my crazy ass cat with me, that trip sucked ass.
The worst is seeing them posted on e-bay.... I got the heavy stuff back then confronted the thief, which was a bit of a letdown.... lot's of tears shed by her, making me feel like she was the one being wronged.
Thing is with wax is it's a tight circle now... people notice when records go on the market and if the words on the street, you may luck out and nab them back.
I started marking my records... I slowed the process down to a trickle this winter, this thread'll make me step it up.
I dunno. My buddy didn't even mention that option at all in our 2-3 conversations, so I'm assuming he/they have their reasons. And to be honest, beating the guy down or sending him to jail wouldn't give me very much satisfaction. I'm just happy to have my records back!
If Amoeba knows the deal on this dude, at least they have a certain level of control over the situation as long as he keeps coming in. It puts them in the position to be able to return records to people like Mark. Sounds strange, but give it some thought. It makes sense. Sending him to jail does nothing. He'll go away for a little while and then get out and begin the cycle again, but possibly in a different neighborhood near a different record store. He's not going to quit just because Amoeba calls him out. I'm going to guess that Amoeba has danced around this maypole before.
That's what I was thinking. If they checked his ID or called the cops, they might have lost track of him altogether. Amoeba's method of least resistance allowed me to get me my records back for what they paid him: $35.
THIRTY FIVE DOLLARS!
If the guy was still there I hope Amoeba at least took the guy's picture and posted it in the buy area with a big headline saying "DO NOT BUY RECORDS FROM THIS MAN."
They actually offered him $30 and he was going to walk, so they upped it to $35 and he bit. Guess he knew the Kings Go Forth 45 was worth some loot.
I kinda agree. I know Mark is beyond pleased and appreciative to get back those records (I had the pleasure to peruse said box and listen to many many of those records when he made his trip west and stopped in Memphis, and losing those records is grown-man-crying-like-a-little-girl worthy), Im guessing Mark would have paid 10X that to get them back...at the same time however, we get sometimes get calls from other shops saying "look out for a dude selling this and that, he just lifted it from my shop" And within an hour the dude they warned us about will come in and try to sell the stuff. I simply take it, take my time "grading" it, make a phone call and alert the other shop, and just hold on to it. I dont give it back. They get heated and say shit like "im gonna call the cops" I hand them the phone. Funny they never call the cops. Then other shop dude comes, I give him the stuff back and let them deal with scumbag. Simple. They could have easily just not given the box back. What was the dude going to do? Nothing.
But, bottom line is that Mark got his records back. Happy day.
Im guessing that Mark threw some extra $$ their way beyond the $35, because thats the kind of dude Mark is.
But it was kind of shitty making him pay for them, as they really didnt have to pay scumbag thief anything.
They invested $35 to help me out, and charged me at cost with no profit to themselves. I'm sure there's various arguments that could be made for them to have taken a different approach, but at the end of the day I got my records back in less than 24 hours for a pittance and with no hassles. I'm cool with that.
Especially since the LAPD said they'd have detectives call me in SEVEN TO TEN DAYS after I reported the theft. Why bother.
Yeah, this was my point.
The $35 is at no gain to Amoeba though. Any DJ who wouldn't pay $35 to get their box of stolen records back, well....they have really shitty records and probably shouldn't be taking DJ gigs to begin with. It's not like Amoeba held the records over Mark's head and were like "Whoa dude, you can't have these back just yet."
The scenario that Eric lays out works, too but is clearly more confrontational, or at least has more potential to end badly. Obviously, none of us WANT dudes to steal records, but Amoeba's course of action gives them control over the situation. They know who the thieves are, and they're obviously willing to do right by the rightful owners when they can be found. Any more said about Amoeba's actions would be presumptuous since I have never worked there.
But tip back over to page one of this thread. Better yet, I'll save you the trouble.
What's the over/under that Mark's reward offering would have been more than $35??
Don't hate on Amoeba for this. They performed an admirable service for Mark, and it may be you in his non-leather shoes one day.
That shit happened here in PDX. Brutal. Apparently they figured out it had to be an employee so they "leaned" on this young kid who they suspected of being the thief and the records magically appeared behind some door at the club the next day.